hackTEARS
by GossInABox
Summary: Tsukasa has finally logged out of the world, but what effects can a 6 month entrapment in a video game do to one's mind? Currently on hiatus.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes: Just a note to everyone out there. I have seen all of .hack//SIGN (with...erm.....interesting subtitles....), and absolutely love the story and characters and was somewhat disappointed by the lack of .hack//SIGN fics out there. When you look at like those big anime sections with over 4000, and I think..... "Wow. Maybe I could help us get up there ever so slowly." Well here's my contribution to the .hack//SIGN fanfic community. This idea has probably used somewhere before, but I'll throw it out there. I've had it stuck in my head for weeks...... ^_^

Disclaimer: Sadly enough I don't own anything .hack//SIGN. That includes the characters, story, and even the games... -_-. The only things I own are any original characters that may pop up somewhere in this story.

Notes on the Story: This takes place after .hack//SIGN so this story WILL contain spoilers. You have been warned. I don't know if I'll have any actual couplings. Really close friends are a yes, but couplings I'm not so sure about... Oh, and I have never played the games so I don't have a clue about why Aura is around, where the Key of the Twilight actually is(although I have my suspicions), and other random but very big plot points that aren't contained in .hack//SIGN. Fortunately for me, I don't think any of that will really come up in this, but you never know. All I have is the barest minimum outlined. Yay for me!!

And finally, the story!!

.hack//TEARS

Prologue

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If you are near to the dark

I will tell you bout the sun

A stony wasteland in an unknown server held, but one thing in its miles of terrain. A tower of black stone, rising above the rocks and dust of the world below. The moon shone above, reflecting off the smooth stone, and yet the light went nowhere. It simply hovered around the tower, giving it an aura of silver against the black of night.

__

You are here, no escape

from my visions of the world

A single room lay at the top of this black, cold tower, lighted only by the stream of silvery light that fell through a lone, arched window. The only window. The moonlight fell upon a statue of white stone in the center of the room, raised on a pedestal, so that all had to look up to see her mourning face. Her arms reached for the hidden sky, as if searching for one last chance for happiness. Her mouth forever opened in a silent cry for help.

__

You will cry, all alone

but it does not mean a thing to me

A single tear slid down the stony cheek to fall, unnoticed, to the ground. Not a sound could be heard other then the eerie organ music resonating from nowhere. 

__

"You say you don't need me anymore. That is not true. I cut you from our happiness. I cut you from your happiness, from your escape from that cold, cruel world. You still need me."

Another tear followed the path of the last. The sound of a single water droplet hitting cold stone echoed throughout the tower.

Then all fell silent.

_"I never forget my children."_

.hack//TEARS

Chapter 1

"Alright, time is up, pens down. No, no exceptions Rin. Drop that pen." The brown, spiky haired girl let out a cry in protest then, at the pointed look from the teacher, dropped her pen and collapsed back in to her chair. She handed Shidou-sensei her paper muttering something about failing history and half a dozen other subjects. 

When their teacher returned, with their test papers, to his desk Rin turned to the quiet girl sitting next to her. "Yep, another failure for me." The girl just shrugged, remembering her own attempt at the test. It was most likely a failure worse then Rin's. 

Rin leapt up, gathering things when the bell rang. "Finally! Come on, lets get to the mall. I have birthday money to spend!" Rin was all smiles as the led Lein to the classroom door, fighting through the mob of students trying to escape their one period prison. 

"Will you wait for me?" Those were some of the first words Lein had spoken since lunch. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other, eyes warily watching Rin's face, waiting for her answer. She knew that Rin wouldn't mind. It was stupid of her to worry, but she did. Lein always had something on her mind. "I-I need to talk to Shidou-sensei..." She gave as explanation. "Sure! I'll meet you in front of the school." Rin smiled at Lein before turning and weaving her way in and out of the frantic students, trying to find her way to her locker. As an afterthought she turned back to the classroom that Lein had already disappeared inside of. "Good luck!!" She yelled out over the mob.

Shidou looked up from the papers he was correcting. His face hardened as soon as she entered the room. "Yes?" She swallowed hard, never comfortable speaking with others. It didn't help that Shidou sounded both annoyed and....cold.

"Ano...Shidou-sensei...I transferred only a week ago...ano..."

"No, you can't retake the test. You know my policy. No retakes."

"Demo..."

"Go home Tasata." Her eyes widened, but she nodded obediently, barely stopping herself from running from the room.

She walked blindly to her locker, fumbling with the lock.

__

How does he know? I live with Bear....no, Yamato-sensei now.

She dumped her unneeded books in to her locker, grasping for the thick Algebra book she would need for the night. Finally finding the book, she pulled it from her locker, stuffed it in to her bag, and swung the metal door shut.

__

I registered his...my new last name.

She turned and there was Rin in front of her. Rin saw the familiar expression on her friend's face. She reached hand out and grasped Lein's shoulder. 

"Tsukasa, you ok?"

__

That's not me.

"Lein."

"Wha...?" Her hand drew back.

"My name is Lein." Realization crept across Rin's face as she realized her mistake. "Ah, gomen! It's just...that's what I'm used to." She rubbed the back of her head, giving Lein an apologetic smile. Lein just nodded, mind elsewhere. 

__

I'm Lein now....just Lein. Tsukasa doesn't exist anymore, he's....

She yelped as her arm was grabbed and her body dragged forward. Rin grinned at her, determined to get Lein out of her gloomy mood. "Here's the deal. I'll stop calling you Tsukasa if you start calling me Rin." Lein nodded with a quiet "H-hai.", as her body was dragged towards the door.

"What did you say?" They were running (and stumbling) down the front steps now.

"H-hai, Mimiru!" 

"Rin!"

"Gomen, gomen Rin!"

"Much better now come on! You're so slow!" Lein laughed along with Rin, spirits high again as Rin dragged her to her mother's waiting car. 

A figure stood at his window, watching the blue automobile drive out of the parking lot. Shidou took off his glasses, wiping them off with the handkerchief he kept in his pocket. Placing them back on his nose, he turned from the window, returning to his desk. "How the hell did I get that brat in my class...?" He wondered aloud, packing his briefcase. Her smoothed out his thinning black hair, before pulling his wallet from his pocket. He made a quick count of how much he had to do some grocery shopping. He paused before he closed the wallet, looking at a photograph he had gotten long ago. Two men and a woman smiled up at him from the picture, all in collage, having a nice night out after exams. "What did you get yourself in to..." He asked the picture, looking directly at the other man and woman, his arm wrapped around the young woman's shoulders. They looked so happy together. "Nobody's that happy anymore..." 

"I love this time of the year." Rin exclaimed, hugging her bag to her chest. "That's because you just spent all your spendable money on a video game." Rin merely flashed her a victory sign, before returning to her hugging of said video game. Lein smiled to herself, as she chewed on a fry. Rin finally abandoned her present for self to bite in to her Burger. Looking around the food court she saw plenty of kids from school, few that she would actually spend any time with. "Woogs wige eberon ish ere ooway." Rin said around a mouthful of burger. 

"N-nani?" Lein asked, suddenly looking up from her basket of fries. Rin finished chewing her food, swallowed before starting this time. "I said....Looks like everyone is..."

"No, I thought I heard someone call my....name." Lein, looked around, but saw no one that would call her name. "I didn't hear anything." Rin said, also looking up from her food. Lein just shrugged, falling silent again. "Don't worry about it. You're probably still just stressed over that test." Rin said matter of factly, stealing one of Lein's fries. They sat in silence for a moment, Lein fishing for something to say. 

"What's that game you got?" She asked, warily eyeing the bag. Rin shrugged. "Just a fighting game. Soul Calibur II." Rin suddenly brightened up as she grinned over at Lein. "How about you sleep over tonight! Tomorrow's Sunday, so no worrying about school in the morning. Your dad won't care." 

Lein had been awake, been Lein and not Tsukasa for about a month now, but nobody had ever asked her out for more then a couple of hours after school. She knew why. They were all a little nervous around her. She wasn't Tsukasa. Their personalities were similar, but...he was different. Bringing her mind back to the matter at hand the brown haired girl nodded. "Sure. It'll be fun." Rin smiled, happy with her breakthrough. "You can help me break this game in then!" Lein nodded, smiling along with Rin. This night would probably be just like every other day she spent with Rin, just....longer. 

Aogiri Yamato sat at his computer, pen tapping on the wooden surface of the desk. There was no reason for him to even have a pen, it was just a habit now. He felt the calmest when he had a pen in hand. He loved technology, like everyone else, but...there was always something strange about pens. They weren't as reliable as computers, but they were so much more personal then computers. A pen was not a cold-blooded machine that couldn't think for itself. "Some programs can though." He reminded himself, thinking back on his many personal experiences that proved that fact. He continued tapping the pen, staring at the blank screen, waiting for something to happen. It was comforting to have the pen in his hand, it....

The door opened, a shuffling of feet could be heard. Yamato stood from his chair, a great sigh of relief escaping his mouth. He left the computer and the pen behind as he made his way to the small hallway that led further in to his house. Lein was there, her shoes pressed neatly against the wall. Rin, was working her own shoes off behind her. "I thought you would never get home." Yamato stated, more then half true. 

"Sorry, I sort of held us up..." Rin said, grinning up at the tall, brown haired man. He stared at her with green eyes, noting the bag clutched in her hand. "You went shopping, but then stopped by the video arcade." He guessed, and Yamato was very good at guessing right. 

"Oh, you caught me." Rin laughed, then looked over at Rein, nudging her forward. Rein took that step forward, encouraged by Rin. "Be - I mean....Yamato-san, could I sleep over Mimiru's? It's ok with her parents." The older man held back his disappointment at her formality with him. He had hoped that she would have warmed up and felt like family with her new father, but...it hadn't happened yet. _It's hard to forget the past, h_e reminded himself. It was hard to forget the mistakes he had made with his own son.

Yamato looked between the two girls, one with eyes focused on the ground, the other practically dancing on her toes as she tried to meet his eye. "Fine, but I'd like to speak with you first, Lein. And we should have dinner." Lein nodded as Rin cheered. "Ok, well, I'll head home then. Call me when you're coming, ok Tsu...er...Lein?" Lein nodded her acceptance, and waved goodbye to Rin as she ran out the door to where her mother was once again waiting. Her mother spent most of her life waiting for her strong willed, determined, and mostly hyper daughter. 

Lein followed Yamato in to the kitchen, where he set about making dinner. With nothing else that had to be done Lein set the table, laying out the plates, cups, and utensils. Once finished she sat, watching Yamato cook. 

"You had a test today, didn't you?" 

"I was supposed to have two, but my Algebra teacher is giving me another week to catch up." Yamato turned back to Lein, eyebrow raised. "What was the other test then? You've only been in that class for a week."

"History.... Shidou-sensei wouldn't give me any extra time." Yamato frowned as he brought the warmed up food, leftovers, to the table. "Shidou you say?" He frowned again, brow furrowed in thought. "What is it?" Yamato shook his head. "Nothing. I'll have a word with your teacher. Maybe we could work something out." 

"Thank you." Yamato smiled at his adopted daughter as he placed a pile of...something on the plate in front of her. Yamato wasn't much of a cook, and neither was Lein. 

"Oh, Lein. Rin is upstairs in her room. She's always in her room." Rin's mother complained with a sigh, as she led Lein to the stairs. "Well, I'll be seeing you girls in the morning. Just call me if you need anything." Lein watched as the older woman returned to her television show before climbing the stairs to Rin's room. 

The room was messy. Mangas scattered over the floor, a playstation2 sitting in one corner, a small TV right next to it. Games lay randomly around the system, and it looked like Rin's closet had exploded with the amount of clothing Lein had to step around just to get two steps in to the room. The only thing that was relatively clean was the bed. The bed was made. 

Lein froze as she saw Rin, sitting alone, headset covering her eyes, staring forward at the computer screen, controller in hand. Rin looked mad. Lein couldn't hear her words, nor see the screen. Lein didn't want to move to see the screen. Lein continued to stare as Rin suddenly disappeared from her vision, replaced by Mimiru in her red armor, and oversized sword strapped to her back. 

Then Mimiru was gone and Rin was back, taking off her headset, muttering something. She then caught sight of Lein. She jumped from her seat and leapt over mountains of clothes and junk to greet her. 

"I thought you'd never make it. Finally! Lets play, I've been waiting forever!" Lein nodded dumbly, following Rin across the room, glancing over at the headset that lay abandoned on the computer desk. She tore her gaze from that cursed machine and to the game that was currently loading in the ps2. "Lets see what you're made of." Rin said with an evil grin as she handed Lein a controller.

The young wavemaster shifted his staff from left to right hand as he looked out across the plains laying for miles around him. He closed violet eyes feeling the breeze send him a comfortable coolness. Tsukasa turned at the sound of approaching footsteps. A black haired blademaster stood behind him, a low level sword in hand. He grinned at Tsukasa. "Hi, I'm new." He said, giving Tsukasa a wave, sword still in hand. "Do you wanna form a party with me? We could maybe take out some of the higher level monsters around here." Lifting his sword again, pointing it out at a golden, spinning gate, containing some form of monster. Tsukasa didn't answer as he walked past the newbie. He didn't want to get involved.

__

Tsukasa.

The silver haired wavemaster froze.

__

Tsukasa!

He jerked his head up, searching for the source of the voice, though he knew he would find none. The other player took a tentative step towards the terrified boy.

__

TSUKASA!

He fell to his knees, hands pressed over his ears. "Stop it....please, stop it....Yamatte!!" 

"H-hey! You ok!?" 

__

LEIN!!

Lein jerked up from her sleeping bag, staring blindly at Rin who was kneeling in front of her. Rin stood, wiping her hands together. "Are you always that hard to wake up?" 

"Not...usually..."

"Well, mom made us breakfast. Get dressed then come down. Better be quick or there'll be nothing left." She said with a wink and a laugh. Rin padded across the room in her Khakis and blue shirt, grabbing her cell phone as she left the room. 

Lein closed the door, granting herself the privacy needed to change. As she pulled out her clothes and began to change her mind drifted back to the dream.

Lein had dreamed of "The World" every night since she had awoken a month ago. 

__

But it was never that vivid. She shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself, still feeling the cool breeze across her skin, raising prickles on her skin. This is all wrong... She dropped her arms to the side and finished changing, forcing the dream from her mind. She glared at the computer as she passed across the room, pausing to throw one of Rin's dirty shirts over the headset, hiding the device from view. She wished it would all disappear.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I thought that was pretty decent for the first chapter. The second chapter is already being written where a couple more characters make their appearance. I'll hopefully get that up soon. Be nice and review!! The next chapters will get much better (at least...I hope they will....).

Here are the basic translations for the Japanese words I scattered throughout. If I missed any you need translated just let me know, and I'll put that in the next chapter. Also tell me if any of the translations are wrong (or spellings). I make mistakes like that a little more often then I'd like.

demo - But

Gomen - Sorry

Hai - Yes

Yamatte - Stop

Sensei - teacher (also used for a doctor, although that doesn't apply here)


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Notes: Ok, here's chapter 2! I really liked writing this chapter, so I hope you all like it to. The story is....erm...I think pushed forward a little more. I guess you should use your own judgement for that! Oh, and thankyou to all my reviewers!

To: BB.HF - I don't know about coolestI have a couple in the section I think are waaaaay better then mine, but thank you so much. 

To: Anonymous - Thanks for that spelling correction. I'm a moron sometimes. Unfortunately my spellchecker doesn't cover Japanese words. (Yamete, Yamete, Yamete, Yamete, Yamete. Ok, I think I have it now.) Oh, and I never heard anywhere about Tsukasa's player being named An. Well, like I said before I've only seen the series and I know they never say her name there. So, I'll just stick with Lein for now. I've seen lots of other Authors giving her all kinds of names. ^_^

To: Torii - I hope this chapter meets your expectations. I, myself, was a bit disappointed with a couple of scenes, but. some characters I find really hard to write..

To: Radical Dreamer2 (a.k.a.: Jess) - I'll show you the whole series (If you can live with the grammatically incorrect subtitles and the funny names they give some people. Zea? Where did that come from?). And yay! Even if you are one of my close friends I'm happy that my story is going on a favorites list! I don't think that's ever happened before! *cheer* 

Disclaimer: I don't own .hack//SIGN characters, world, or anything else related to it. The only things I own are my original characters and the laptop I'm typing this all on.

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.hack//TEARS

Chapter 2

Bear stepped back, pulling his sword from the spiderlike creature that exploded, scattering the remains of its' data. He knelt down besides the creature's spoils. Low level defense bracelets and a few potions. He left the bracelets behind as he continued his search for monsters to fight. He stopped suddenly, a familiar dinging sound indicating the message he had just received. 

**To: Bear**

Could you meet me in Mac Anu by the fountain? It's very important.

Subaru

"What could this be about?" Bear hadn't gotten a message of importance from anyone since, well.... since the day's of Tsukasa's entrapment. Bear closed his eyes, sending his reply.

Subaru, former leader of the now disbanded Crimson Knights sat on the smooth gray stones surrounding a fountain. Her hands were folded neatly in her lap; blue eyes watching the happy, clueless players go about their business.

The small girl dressed in blue watched these people, amazed by how little hey knew. Sure, there were rumors, but to those who hadn't been directly involved found no more truth then a hacker who had no life. 

Subaru stood to greet the blademaster as he approached. The tall man smiled down at her, before taking a seat on the fountain. "I can't stay long, Lein will be home soon."

"She's not there?" Bear shook his head and Subaru's face fell. "What's wrong?" Subaru stepped directly in front of Bear, face troubled. Bear waited for her to continue a sense of dread growing in the pit of his stomach. 

"You haven't checked the BBS."

"I checked a few hours ago."

She clasped her hands together. "A novice player made his first post." Bear listened intently, chin resting on the backs of his hands. Neither spoke when Subaru finished her story. 

Finally, Bear stood, eyes serious. "Lein's home. I have to log off now." Subaru grabbed his arm, grabbing his attention. "What will we do?" She released him, her arm falling back to her side. "I'm worried." 

"Don't jump to conclusions. I will look at the BBS tonight. We can't be sure whether or not it's valid." Subaru said nothing. "I'll take care of her." He said, giving her a reassuring smile as he turned, disappearing in to the crowd of players going about their business on the streets of the peaceful city.

Subaru turned away, gazing at the sky. "I'll protect you."

Nothing very eventful happened when Lein came home. Yamato didn't mention his conversation with Subaru. He didn't mention "The World" at all. All that they spoke of was school, Rin's sleepover, and then the homework she needed to finish. She left for the library soon after, saying she needed to get some books for school. Lein never used a computer. 

As soon as Lein had left, (she had insisted on walking) he retreated to the computer, cup of coffee in hand. He opened the web browser, immediately typing the address for "The World" BBS. He scrolled down the page, searching for a related title. _I should have asked Subaru for the subject..._ He thought, mad at him for overlooking such a simple matter. 

****

Real Weird

He clicked on the topic, read through the message, then clicked the back button to continue his search. It was just about some of the new updates and dancing rabbits. He wondered for a moment just who had come up with the idea for dancing rabbits. 

He looked through a few more topics, but none helped.

****

Erm...Question. Logging out?? 

He clicked.

****

Subject: Erm...Question. Logging out??

Member: Kaikan

**I'm new and was in a lowerlevel field where I met another character (the spellcasting class....forgot the name...) and asked if we could form a party. He started freaking out then *poof* disappeared. Did he log out or use some skill? I am so confused.**

Yamato read through the replies, but found nothing to help solve the mystery. All the replies indicated one thing. There was no legal way that a player could just disappear. If a connection was cut the player's character would freeze and then fade out where they would reconnect in a root town. 

Lein sat alone, curled up in one of the more comfortable chairs in the library. An open book was propped up on her knees. The young girl's violet eyes stared at the page, but made no sense of the words. Her mind was elsewhere, as it often is.

_It means nothing._

Her thoughts were scattered about. Some focused on her strange dream from the previous night, others on her new life. She lived three different lives and she was only 15. First, the abused and hated daughter who was abandoned in a hospital room. Second, a lost and confused wavemaster trapped inside of a video game. Lastly, a daughter recovering from two sad lives, trying to be protected and understood by those around her. 

She rubbed her arm, remembering the bruises that used to always cover her skin. That was her image of a father. Yelling....A raised hand.... pain. _I want Bear to be my.... my friend.... like he was before. _

She didn't look up as she felt a presence in front of her. Maybe, if she ignored them, they would go away. "Lein, it's nice to see you." Lein looked up and smiled. A young girl with long blue hair and glasses smiled back. Suro Miki pulled on the wheels of her wheelchair, angling herself to Lein. "I'm glad you're back. I was hoping to see you sooner, but..."

Miki smiled apologetically, but that slowly turned into a frown as she saw the confused look cross Lein's face. 

"Subaru..." Miki smiled, nodding.

"Why are you here...?" Miki's smile faded. "I-I wanted to see you..." Realization suddenly hit the 15 year old invalid. Lein wanted Subaru, not the crippled girl in front of her.

"Lein, this is the real world. This is who I am. Please..." For once she didn't know what to say. 

Lein reached out for the blue haired girl who stood in front of her. Lein could feel Subaru's blue skirts brushing against her legs. "This...can't be real." She gulped, but she couldn't deny that the Clone Perfume wasn't drifting through the air. Tsukasa always smelled that when Subaru was near. Lein reached out a gloved hand... Her eyes widened as she stared at her hand, the fingerless gloves now gone. She looked up to see the girl who played as Subaru, once more bound to her wheelchair. "I-I'm so lost." 

Miki leaned forward, wrapping her arms around Lein as the lost child collapsed in to tears.

Mimiru was still a very active member of "The World". Her time spent with Tsukasa had changed her. Those who had been as deeply involved as she had been had experienced some sort of change in their lives, but none stopped playing altogether. None of them feared the world or what it could do, but they had formed a greater respect for the forces, both visible and not, that resided within the code behind the game. They all still played, some more often then others. Only Sora had disappeared and Mimiru tried not to think of that. She had never held a great liking for Sora, but he had helped them out in the past. "All for himself of course, but still..." Sora didn't seem like the type who would ever want to quit "The World", especially after knowing what had happened to Tsukasa. Sora never seemed to have any fears. 

The heavyblade yawned, stretched then leapt off the rock she had been lounging on. She shouldered her blade and made her way towards the Chaos Gate to spend some time leveling. Perhaps fighting would get her mind off of these somewhat tiring and depressing thoughts.

She stopped suddenly, her eyes widening as she stared straight ahead. She read the message she had just received. She snapped from her daze and ran the last through yards to the floating blue gate, entered the keywords and disappeared in rings of gold.

BT walked through the field of giant mushrooms, staff at ready, searching for something. She thought back to the Administrator's post on the BBS that had given her this new mission. It told about the new, part of the environment, monsters and traps. BT was never one who liked surprises. She liked to be in a control and understand things, so she set out to find all these new traps and monsters in each field type. Many players were doing this very thing. She had found most of them in the forest, desert, and mountain fields already, all rather predictable. Man eating plants, hidden pits, avalanches, a rain of rocks, sand worms that liked to grab at the feet of unwary players, and quicksand that looked exactly like real sand until you stepped on to it. 

So, the mushroom field was her next stop. She continued to walk, looking this way and that. A snap of a twig could be heard behind her and she spun around, staff at ready. She still felt annoyed by how easily she had died in that quicksand an hour ago. The golden-haired wavemaster was not going to be surprised so easily again. BT relaxed when she saw who it was, although that did not stop her from arching a brow in surprise. 

"I never expected to see you here again." The young wavemaster didn't look straight at her, instead staring off at a particularly large mushroom to their right. He merely shrugged, choosing not to reply. "Why did you return?" 

Tsukasa looked up; sighing as her met her curious gaze. He averted his eyes again. "I'm always here. You know that." 

"You're terrified of this place."

"Where else can I go?" BT took a step forward, lowering her staff all the way. "You can go home." The silver haired wavemaster narrowed his eyes at her, then walked right past her. He paused, looking back over his shoulder at the female. "What home? I'm not welcome anywhere." 

"I thought Bear would make a good father." BT closed her eyes briefly as she sent out a quick message.

"Bear....my father...?" He shook his head, turning away from her. "Why are you so cruel?" 

"I'm not cruel, just being truthful." He shook his head again and kept walking. "I hate you. You know I'm trapped and yet you still wish to mock me. That's cruel."

"Tsukasa, log out." He turned fully back to her, eyes downcast. "I can't logout. Don't you believe me yet?" Then he faded right out of existence. 

BT just stood there, staring at the spot Tsukasa had just stood. "Looks like things are being stirred up again..." She whispered to the wind, trailing off as the golden rings announced Mimiru's arrival.

"Where is he!?" BT merely shrugged before leaving the field. She had played this game to long for one day. 

She left Mimiru fuming at her abrupt leave. "Why doesn't she tell me anything!?" She turned just in time, dodging the mushroom like creature that leapt down from the oversized fungus above.

Meanwhile, Yamato was still sitting at his computer, coffee cup long empty, and pen tapping the table irritably. He had found nothing. Absolutely nothing to try and solve this mystery. There were no leads to follow. With a sigh he left his computer desk and walked as quietly as he could up the carpeted stairs. He smiled as he entered the girl's room. She was sitting at her desk, head resting on the open books she had been studying. Her breathing was slow as she slept peacefully. Yamato smiled again as he took a blanket from the bed and wrapped it around her shoulders, not wishing to disturb her, but hoping to keep her warm. 

He paused at the door, turning back to his sleeping child. He was happy, truly happy for the first time in years. He was given another chance at turning a child's life in to something worthwhile. _I won't mess up again. I'll be the father I should have been. _He knew the process would be slow. He knew Lein did not seem him as her father. He hoped to someday change that. "I will protect you." He whispered, unheard by the slumbering girl.

He closed the door as he left, not knowing he had already failed at the promise. Lein was left alone with her dreams of "The World".

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Author's Note: This chapter was a lot harder to write then it should have been. Probably because I find BT so hard to write. There was this whole scene I was going to include in the end, but I wasn't really sure where to go with it in the end, so I'll probably have that in the next chapter. The only thing I'm really worried about is the pacing of the story. I don't want it to fly by, but I don't what to drag it along either. *sigh* Pacing is so hard. Ok, so review and tell me what you think!


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